CrossMark, Correction & Withdrawal Policy

Doi: https://doi.org/10.33546/crossmark_policy

Applying the CrossMark logo is a commitment by the Belitung Raya Foundation (Belitung Nursing Journal & Journal of Healthcare Administration) to maintain the content published and alert readers to changes if and when they occur. The CrossMark service has been enabled since 24 November 2021. The CrossMark logo is applied to each article's HTML page, while the CrossMark logo in the PDFs of the published articles is applied from Vol 8(1) 2022 for Belitung Nursing Journal and Vol 1(1) 2022 for Journal of Healthcare Administration.

CrossMark, a multi-publisher initiative from CrossRef, provides a standard way for readers to locate the authoritative version of a document. Belitung Raya Foundation recognizes the importance of the integrity and completeness of the scholarly record to researchers and librarians and attaches the highest priority to maintaining trust in the authority of its electronic archive. Clicking on the CrossMark logo will inform the reader of the document's current status and may provide additional publication record information about the document.
Every article published, either in the print issue or online, constitutes the Version of Record (VoR): the final, definitive, and citable version of the scholarly record (see NISO, 2008).

The VoR includes:
  • The paper, revised and accepted following peer review, in its final form, including the abstract, text, references, bibliography, and all accompanying tables, illustrations, and data.
  • Any supplemental material.
Recognizing a published article as a finalized Version of Record establishes the expectation that it can be relied upon as accurate, complete, and citable. Wherever possible, it is our policy to maintain the integrity of the Version of Record in accordance with STM Association guidelines:

“Articles that have been published should remain extant, exact, and unaltered to the maximum extent possible” (STM Guidelines on Preservation of the Objective Record of Science)

Sometimes, after an article has been published, it may be necessary to make a change to the Version of Record. This will be done after careful consideration by the Editors to ensure any necessary adjustments are made following guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Belitung Raya Foundation operates the following policy for making corrections to the print and online versions of their peer-reviewed content.

Publishable amendments that affect the publication record and the scientific accuracy of published information receive a DOI and are published in print and online in the journal. Four categories of amendments are relevant for peer-reviewed material: Erratum or Publisher Correction, Corrigendum or Author Correction, Retraction, and Addendum. All four correction types are bi-directionally linked to the original published paper. Detailed information on each amendment category follows below.

1. Erratum or Publisher Correction
Notification of a significant error made by the journal that affects the publication record or the scientific integrity of the paper, or the reputation of the authors or the journal. 

BNJ distinguishes between major and minor errors. For erratum, major errors or omissions are considered to be any changes that impact the article's interpretation but where the article's scholarly integrity remains intact.
  • All major errors are accompanied by a separate erratum. The erratum should provide clear details of the error and the changes made to the Version of Record. Under this circumstance, BNJ will:
    • Correct the online article.
    • Issue a separate erratum electronically linked back to the corrected version.
    • Add a footnote to the article displaying the electronic link to the erratum.
    • Paginate and make available the erratum in the online issue of the journal.
  • Any minor errors will not be accompanied by a separate erratum. Instead, a footnote will be added to the article detailing to the reader that the article has been corrected. Minor errors do not impact the reliability of the scholarly content or the reader’s understanding.
Minor errors include:
  • Minor layout changes/fixes.
  • Typos or grammatical issues in the main body of the manuscript do not affect the content or meaning of a sentence. However, a separate erratum or a corrigendum is usually required if the typo is a significant number, as this changes the meaning. Likewise, a separate erratum or a corrigendum is also necessary if a typo is in the title.
  • Minor fixes in references as long as the reference stays essentially the same (the publisher usually does not update broken links to external websites as linkrot over time is to be expected).
  • Updating metadata in the PDF file can be done as long as it does not change the metadata in the system (e.g., if the PDF file of the article did not have the address for correspondence nor complete address of each author's affiliation (or only in HTML of the website), it can be updated). Changing metadata in the system requires a separate erratum or a corrigendum.

2. Corrigendum or Author Correction
Notification of a critical error made by the author(s) that affects the publication record, the scientific integrity of the paper, or the reputation of the authors or the journal. 

In our journals, authors receive numerous opportunities to check and approve the manuscript before it is published (e.g., during copyediting and proofreading). However, with the few exceptions mentioned above, no changes are possible after the article has been issued unless a corrigendum is published, which may incur costs for the author.

To publish a corrigendum, the author should first file a ticket to the journal and briefly describe what to be corrected. Then, the editors will evaluate the request and investigate the cause and severity of the error (if any).

There are the following four possibilities/outcomes:
  1. The error was introduced after the final proofreading step (or the authors brought this to our attention during proofreading, and we failed to correct this). As this is the publishers' responsibility, we will submit a corrigendum on the authors’ behalf. There are no costs for them.
  2. The error is an update/correction of something in the original submission or an addendum to the original submission. This error was in the proofs, and the authors did not make a correction at the time. Requests like "I forgot to acknowledge somebody" a "Discretionary Correction," as it is an oversight that is the authors' responsibility but not severe enough to affect the paper's validity. The editors can correct it but reserve the right to charge a fee of $250 for publishing the corrigendum, updating the original article and linking it to the corrigendum, and resubmitting the article to various databases.
  3. The editors do not think the error you have mentioned is a problem and requires any action/correction.
  4. The error is a minor layout change and can be made without publishing a corrigendum.
In case 1 or 2, a corrigendum has to be published, and a correction notice has to be sent to various databases to notify them.

Additionally, BNJ has its Author Name Change Policy to support the anonymity of authors who wish to change their name on already-published research. Therefore, the editors will update the article’s meta-data without requiring documentation, without posting a corrigendum notice (unless one is asked for), and without informing any other authors. We will also ask indexers to make a silent change similarly. This update is in line with the updated COPE policy regarding author name changes

Changing our name represents a milestone, whether it’s because of gender identity, religion, or relationship status. And changing names requires discretion and sensitivity, especially in the case of transgender (including non-binary) authors. According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, “gender incongruent identification exposes people to a range of negative outcomes.” Public disclosure of an individual as trans is invasive and can lead to actual harm, including social, psychological, professional, and economic harm. An inclusive publishing environment doesn’t harm people; it supports everyone. And that means empowering authors to own their name change process.

Update, 6 February 2022: Belitung Raya Foundation has joined with other publishers in a partnership with the U.S. National Laboratories to support name change requests, offering an official validation mechanism enabling researchers to ask their respective institutions to pursue name changes on their behalf directly with the publishers and journals.

3. Retraction 
Notification of invalid results that affect the reliability of a previously published article. The original article is marked as retracted but remains available to readers, and the retraction statement notifying readers of the invalidity of the published paper is bi-directionally linked to the original published article.

4. Addendum
Notification of additional information about a paper. Addenda are published when the editors decide that the addendum is crucial to the reader's understanding of a significant part of the published contribution. Addenda include an Editorial Expression of Concern and an editorial statement alerting the readers to serious concerns with the published paper. Editorial Expression of Concern is typically updated with another amendment once further information is available.

5. Article Removal
An article removal will be issued in rare circumstances where the problems are very serious in nature and cannot be addressed by a Retraction or Correction notice. For example, the editors will consider the removal of a published article in minimal circumstances, such as:
  • If the article contains content that could pose a serious risk if followed or acted upon.
  • If the article contains content that violates the rights to privacy of a study participant.
  • If the article is defamatory or infringes other legal rights.
  • If an article is subject to a court order.
In case of an article is removed from our journals, a removal notice will be issued in its place.
Some authors request the withdrawal of the manuscript from the publication process after submission. However, withdrawing manuscripts from publication wastes valuable resources and a tremendous effort of editors, reviewers, and the editorial staff in processing the manuscripts.

Submission of an article to our journals implies that the work has NOT been published or submitted elsewhere; therefore, the journal is strongly against the unethical withdrawal of an article from the publication process after submission. Once the article is submitted, the author grants the publisher full publishing rights, and it is the absolute right of the editorial board to decide on article withdrawals.

For genuine withdrawal, the corresponding author should submit a request which must be signed by all co-authors explaining the reason for withdrawing the manuscript. The editorial board will process the request if genuine reasons are provided. The decision of the editorial board will be final and not negotiable. If an author requests a withdrawal within three days of submission, the author is allowed to withdraw the manuscript without paying any withdrawal fee; however, if the author withdraws the manuscript at any time after review and acceptance, a withdrawal fee of $300 will have to be paid.